August 28, 1999

People comment on National Field's cosmetic changes

By Ed Fox
Sports Writer

Just look at me now.

The cosmetic change fits National Field at Frost-Kalnow Stadium well, evidenced by the response of many at Friday's season opener with Fostoria.

It was all capped off in fine fashion as the Tornadoes prevailed over the rival Redmen, 37-14.

Before the game, fans had the chance to take in the new scoreboard which not only keeps them informed on the game itself, but also includes a message board and graphic screen.

"If you're familiar with the software computers, it's a piece of cake," said Bob Hess, who directs the graphics. "You can import images and save images. The Internet is going to be our source for a lot of information.

It has the ability to play textal graphics, all types of images, movies. We have the capability of plugging in to a video recorder and show some video from the game but it's going to take some time for that."

Like anything new, it will take some time before Hess and company will be able to put on a show at the south end of the stadium.

"It's a purchased program that you visually see on the screen itself, but nothing comes with it. We are at liberty to put in what we want to. Tonight, it's going to be a bare bones program. Hopefully by the end of the year, we will be more sophisticated and be able to play some movie clips," said Hess.

Actually, the scoreboard was put in place in June and was hooked up Wednesday. Hess only had about an hour Thursday night and just before the game to work with it.

"It's state of the art for high school. At some of the bigger schools like Canton McKinley, they have this. I was told that this scoreboard has greater graphic capabilities than the one at Ohio State. I have a dozen or so programs and they are all computerized," said Hess who works in the MIS department at National Machinery.

It will take four people to run the scoreboard &emdash; one for the graphics, one to run the message board, one to run the scoreboard and one to run the clock. One person usually runs a regular scoreboard.

Building and Grounds Supervisor Tom Anway was in charge of getting the field ready for the opener.

"I am real pleased with what I saw. There were no injuries and good footing for the most part," said Anway. "I really think the kids enjoyed playing on it and that's the most important part. With any two million dollar project, it's going to get hectic at the end but a lot of people really pulled together to get the job done."

Anway praised the community for coming through with a project of this magnitude for the four schools which will use the facility including Columbian, Calvert, Heidelberg College and Tiffin University.

"It's the greatest thing for the community. The community should be very proud because they pulled it off from the scoreboard to the flag pole. Tomorrow we have two soccer games to play on it and we're just helping a lot more kids.

"We've got some detailing to do and the numbers have to be cut in (just painted on now) and we have to finish the D areas behind the goalposts and the all-weather track has to be put in.

"This is all about the kids. There were 100 or so kids out there tonight who love sports and make a dedication to things. The greatest feeling is that the community gave this to the kids. They really pulled together. I think it shows what kind of people live here," said Anway.

Columbian Athletic Director Dale Brown was a bit apprehensive about what kind of crowd would turn out for the opener.

"I think it's a great crowd, I wasn't sure with the fences around if we would have them standing five deep. I thought Fostoria might bring more people, but it's a good opening night crowd," Brown said.

"Tom Anway had a ton of people down here. He's responsible for getting our own crew working here for 24 hours a day. They've been working on the field all night long. I know they were confident the job would get done, but people driving by had to be a bit skeptical about whether it was a go. The field is in good shape for the players," he said. "The community really got behind this and it's only going to get better and better. Aesthetically, when the track gets down, the numbers have all been painted on and all that's going to be layed in, it's going to be beautiful. Unfortunately, it didn't happen as quick as everyone anticipated.

"The kids have practiced on it and you can't tell the difference from it and grass. We could've been playing in grass and mud tonight with all the rain we've had the last two days. Yesterday (Thursday), the players were taken off the field because it was raining like cats and dogs and they came out 15 minutes later and you would've never known that it rained."

Columbian head coach Steve Gilbert was most happy for the players.

"I don't think people have a true understanding of what the kids had to go through in reference to what they were hit with in the summer," said Gilbert. "Everybody joked that the field wouldn't be ready, but these kids have been looking to this game for 1 1/2 years. People said the field wouldn't be ready and that wasn't fair to the kids. Tom Anway did a great job and he was bound and determined that this field would be ready."

Seniors Jeremiah Johnson and Brent Wise were ecstatic over the new field.

"I was able to make lot better cuts than on real grass," said Johnson, who gained 154 yards on the night. "It had a lot better grip than real grass. You're able to get a better grip and it makes you quicker and the same goes for when we were on defense."

Wise, the Columbian quarterback agreed.

"I didn't have any problems planting to pass and it seems to have more of a grip. I wasn't slipping and it gave a little bit. I didn't see any slipping with the offensive line. This is a great facility and I like the fact that it's level because it made me feel faster," said Wise.

Even the officiating crew was happy over getting a first-game assignment on the new turf.

"I saw some players who were having some footing problems, but that was because of the rubberized stuff which hasn't soaked down into the turf.

I liked it. It's one of the best turfs. It looks like real grass. It didn't affect our coverage at all," said Dan Faust. "It's leveler. Artificial turf will have a spot now and then where part of the turf is missing. If you run just right, you could turn an ankle. This turf is level everywhere. It's more flat so we're able to see easier from one sideline to the other. If we're on the home side, you can see the other side where the downs marker is.

"I noticed some players were trying to plant their feet. If they were in one of those dark spots and were putting their feet in a dark spot, their feet would come out from under them, but that only happened a couple times and you won't see that happen in a couple weeks when it settles in," said Faust, a member of the Findlay Officials Association.