The Braden Blog

The New Look Field at Sacks

After dropping two bags of masonry lime, three cans of white paint (much thanks to Ben and Ricky for getting all this stuff to the field), and about four hours of labor, Charlie and I have readied our pitch for action. The dimensions of the pitch may look slightly different than what you may be used to. The reason is that this time we've marked an ACTUAL RECTANGLE. Rejoice in geometric fastidiousness! It became apparent during the initial measuring process that many of the lines we've been using were made in a haphazard way, either by copying over existing lines from baseball or other lines from the “Mexican” league's mini-fields, or just plain eye-balling it to try to make the lines fit. Once you start using 90 degree angles, you quickly realize how oddly shaped Sacks is, with lots of non-parallel fences. Yes, awaken from your rhomboidal nightmares, friends.

As we have it now, the width is within regulation though we had to go about 12 yards short of regulation length for several reasons: 1) to maximize the “grassy-ness” of our playing area, 2) to ensure a “flat lie” for the goal posts so they are less likely to tip over and maim players, and 3) to maintain an ACTUAL RECTANGLE within which to play. We also figured a little extra space behind the goals would increase safety and reduce the likelihood of balls flying over the fences into the street. It should be noted that the original size probably was a bit short also, so the sacrifice is marginal.

The visibility of the lines could be better, since the line roller we used created a narrower than optimal line and we didn't have enough chalk to retouch everything. If you're within 10 yards of the lines, generally they can be seen pretty easily in daylight. This means a referee in the middle of the field will have trouble calling lines, especially at night, but... nothing new there.

Despite the field length being a little below spec, all the lines within the playing area are regulation, including proper 18 yard boxes with 12 yard penalty spots, goal boxes, and 10 yard radius center circle and penalty arcs. A lot of extra effort went into ensuring the geographical symmetry we achieved. Hopefully this will make for a better experience for everyone on the field, or at least for anal retentive astronauts telescopically admiring our handiwork from earth orbit.