A
Anonymous
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Does anyone know these guys?
Hint, they are well known to everyone.
More to be posted as it becomes available.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/loca ... ryid=49472
Alltel Stadium Transforms Overnight for Monday's Gator Bowl
By Grayson Kamm
First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Watch the time-lapse video as more than 350 workers scramble throughout the night to transform Alltel Stadium from an NFL facility into the home of the Toyota Gator Bowl.
Gators and airboats. It sure feels like a swamp on Alltel Stadium's field early Monday morning.
But wet and soggy are the opposite of what managers are looking for here.
"Talk about a big blow-drying system -- this is it," said Nan Coyle, who works for SMG, the company that manages the stadium for the City of Jacksonville.
Photographer Jon Fletcher of the Florida Times-Union documented the overnight overhaul with time-lapse images.
From high above, you can watch the teams from SMG and the Gator Bowl Association work all night long.
Ten groundskeepers had 15 hours to turn a Jaguar jungle into a birdcage -- suited for Cardinals, Hokies, and college football.
New emblems and different hash marks had to be painted on the grass.
And teams had huge tents on hand to keep scattered rain off the big Gator Bowl logo at midfield.
"They had tarps laid out beside it, so as soon as it started drizzling, they would just take it and pull it over -- let it sit there -- and then once it stopped, they'd roll it back and start right back up," explained Robert Leverock of the Gator Bowl Association.
All the while, crews were buzzing all over the stands.
In all, 350-plus workers swapped out signs, prepped food stands, and cleaned.
"We've got all the dumpsters in the parking lot, we've got the parking lots -- generally -- to clean up, as well as the concourses, the restrooms inside," Coyle said.
A pair of airboats parked on the field cranked up their engines and started drying the field before daybreak.
But just minutes before kickoff, the central logo was still off limits. Stakes and ropes told players to stay away as they warmed up.
By game time, though, it was bone dry, and an army of workers could finally kick back, knowing they kept the field from becoming a swampy mess.
"Literally, they've accomplished everything they would do in three days in about 10 hours," Leverock marveled.
Stadium managers did have a backup plan in place in case the field didn't dry in time.
The helicopter from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office was available to hover over the field and dry it out, but the field dried quickly enough with just the airboats.
The stadium hasn't seen a transformation like this since the last time the Jaguars made the playoffs -- the end of the 1999 NFL season.
Hint, they are well known to everyone.
More to be posted as it becomes available.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/loca ... ryid=49472
Alltel Stadium Transforms Overnight for Monday's Gator Bowl
By Grayson Kamm
First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Watch the time-lapse video as more than 350 workers scramble throughout the night to transform Alltel Stadium from an NFL facility into the home of the Toyota Gator Bowl.
Gators and airboats. It sure feels like a swamp on Alltel Stadium's field early Monday morning.
But wet and soggy are the opposite of what managers are looking for here.
"Talk about a big blow-drying system -- this is it," said Nan Coyle, who works for SMG, the company that manages the stadium for the City of Jacksonville.
Photographer Jon Fletcher of the Florida Times-Union documented the overnight overhaul with time-lapse images.
From high above, you can watch the teams from SMG and the Gator Bowl Association work all night long.
Ten groundskeepers had 15 hours to turn a Jaguar jungle into a birdcage -- suited for Cardinals, Hokies, and college football.
New emblems and different hash marks had to be painted on the grass.
And teams had huge tents on hand to keep scattered rain off the big Gator Bowl logo at midfield.
"They had tarps laid out beside it, so as soon as it started drizzling, they would just take it and pull it over -- let it sit there -- and then once it stopped, they'd roll it back and start right back up," explained Robert Leverock of the Gator Bowl Association.
All the while, crews were buzzing all over the stands.
In all, 350-plus workers swapped out signs, prepped food stands, and cleaned.
"We've got all the dumpsters in the parking lot, we've got the parking lots -- generally -- to clean up, as well as the concourses, the restrooms inside," Coyle said.
A pair of airboats parked on the field cranked up their engines and started drying the field before daybreak.
But just minutes before kickoff, the central logo was still off limits. Stakes and ropes told players to stay away as they warmed up.
By game time, though, it was bone dry, and an army of workers could finally kick back, knowing they kept the field from becoming a swampy mess.
"Literally, they've accomplished everything they would do in three days in about 10 hours," Leverock marveled.
Stadium managers did have a backup plan in place in case the field didn't dry in time.
The helicopter from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office was available to hover over the field and dry it out, but the field dried quickly enough with just the airboats.
The stadium hasn't seen a transformation like this since the last time the Jaguars made the playoffs -- the end of the 1999 NFL season.
