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The fate of the college football season is anything but certain. The first few games of the season have been played, but how long it will last and whether there will be bowls and a playoff are anyone's guess.
TurfNet's coverage of preparations for the 2020 Rose Bowl serves as a reminder of how special college football and its traditions are.
"TurfNet tackles the Rose Bowl" is one of three TurfNet projects recognized for writing excellence at the virtual edition of this year's Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association annual conference.
The blog, which was produced by news and editorial director John Reitman and daughter Lauren and was sponsored by Brandt, focused on the efforts of former Rose Bowl field superintendent Will Schnell, Miguel Yepez (Schnell's former assistant and newly anointed successor) and their team to prepare the world's most famous playing field for the 2020 game between Oregon of the PAC 12 and Wisconsin of the Big 10.
Coverage included agronomic practices leading up to the game, painting (A LOT of painting), the inventor of collapsible goal posts (who also volunteers on the game-prep staff) and the camaraderie and family atmosphere among the staff and members of the Brandt team that make this group so special.
Click here to read more about our Rose Bowl coverage and go to our instagram page to see the scads of photos from game week.
A total of 16 posts with more than 17,000 views earned a first place and Gardner Award (best in category) in the New Media-Blog category at this year's TOCA conference. Reitman also earned a first-place mention in the Editorial-Opinion category for “Where's the bottom for golf? It's a game of wait and see” which takes a deep look into the economics of a golf market in decline - at least in decline prior to the pandemic era.
TurfNet's Jon Kiger also earned a Merit Award in the blog category for the “Women in Turf” series sponsored by Foley that included contributions from Peter McCormick and Reitman.
The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association is a 200-plus member association comprising editorial, advertising and marketing professionals working in the green industry. The association's annual meeting, originally scheduled for Denver in the spring was held this week in a virtual format.
