By Cary Williams
ABCActionNews.com
TAMPA, FL -- Talk about a front lawn.
The turf for this year's Super Bowl measures 95,000 square feet and costs as much as a condominium.
Special turf-laying machines are grinding away on the playing field at Raymond James Stadium, spooling out huge rolls of Bermuda grass.
It's a special variety called hybrid #419 and was chosen for its texture and hardiness, officials said.
The grass, $85,000 worth, will take quite a beating come February 1st when the NFC and AFC champs meet for Super Bowl XLIII.
The media got a peek at Ray Jay's transformation on Friday. And it's happening fast. The grass was harvested at the Bent Tree Turf Farm in Foley, Alabama on Thursday and immediately trucked to Tampa in the form of 140 square foot rolls, about 700 of them.
Why Alabama?
"It's a matter of logisitics," said Super Bowl Field Director Ed Mangan, who's also the Field Director for the Atlanta Braves. "The turf can come from Florida to Alabama to California," he said.
Thirty-five workers will be at it from sunup to sundown and Mangan "expects the work to be finished sometime late Sunday."
The farm began growing the turf for the Tampa Super Bowl more than a year ago. "They're already growing the grass for Miami," said Mangan.
The turf will experience a bit of transplant shock, but Mangan said it will settle in quickly and workers will begin painting the field in about a week.
And what happens to the turf after the Super Bowl? "It'll be covered over with dirt," said Mangan.
That's because the Monster Trucks will be coming to Ray Jay on February 21st for something completely different.
