Would it hurt the Park District to get some field maintenance pointers from Roger Bossard? more ›

The trouble over Soldier Field's turf? It could get resolved even more quickly now that Mike Martz has been signed as the Bears' new offensive coordinator. The mind behind the '99 Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf" Martz's high-flying offense could be the push needed to get the Chicago Park District to follow through on a $1.5 million proposal to replace the Soldier Field grass surface with FieldTurf. The team, though, has been reluctant to make the change so far. more ›

• The Chicago Police Dept has officially ruled Michael Scott's death a suicide.
• Authorities hauled in 380 pounds of marijuana - estimated to be worth $2.5 million - in a raid on the South Side earlier today.
• A malfunction at the steam plant that provides heat and hot water to UIC Medical Center wreaked havoc earlier today; the malfunction has since been fixed.

It seems having one of the biggest rock bands on the planet and thousands of its fan is pretty hard on a stadium's turf. The Bears are busy replacing the sod at Soldier Field ahead of this weekend's home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Resodding the field after the preseason is actually routine, but the team decided to wait until after the U2 concerts this past weekend before going ahead with the sod replacement; the sod being used is a bit deeper so it'll hold better. Meanwhile, Desmond Clark lashed out at the field conditions before U2 ever took the field, concluding a rant about field conditions with, "we have one of the worst fields in the NFL and there are no excuses why the Chicago Bears, of all teams, should have to play on such a bad surface." [Tribune] more ›