How did the Frozen Tundra become the Frozen Tundra?

[Forget Favre]

This question stems from the recent Lombardi doc on HBO.

They explain that Lombardi had heating coils installed underneath the Lambeau turf to keep the field from freezing.
And just before the Ice Bowl the field was covered with a tarp.
When they took off the tarp, I think the field was somewhat moist?
But then the field started to feeze.
The heating coils failed.
They don't explain why.
Was the cold just too much for the coils?
Did they break down?
Something else?

And does anyone know if Lambeau field is still warmed to keep it from freezing?

Thank you for any replies.

 

[OldSchoolFan]

In the book "When Pride Still Mattered", David Maranis wrote how proud Lombardi was of that heating system installed during the summer of 1967.
"Mugsy" Halas, nephew of Chicago Bears owner George Halas worked for General Electric and sold the system to Lombardi. Some said that Papa Bear would not buy the system for the Chicago Bears because he was so tight with his money.

When the tarp first came off of the field, the field was indeed moist and steam could be seen escaping from the grass. Lombardi inspected the field a few hours before the game and called conditions "perfect" By the time the players started warming up on the field a few hours before kickoff, the players had solid footing....but you need to understand when you expose that much surface (almost an acre of grass) to -16 below zero mean temperature, ( wind chill charts had not even been around then, you have to figure even a 10 mph wind out of the north put the wind chill at under -35 degrees) the playing surface just froze up. Chuck Mercein said it was like playing on a "granite table top" and Bart Starr compared to to playing on a "**** pile". After the game, Mugsy Halas inspected the field and his explanation was that the controlls had been "mishandled"

There were quite a few stories around concerning that day, Willie Woods car actually froze in the ground and he could not move, Dave Robinson got a ride to the stadium from a neighbor kid, Ray Nitschke got frostbite on his toes, but perhaps the best story came from the referee who said that the ENTIRE game was played without the use of a whistle. The first time he had tried to blow it, the pea inside had frozen solid and when he tried to take the whistle out of his mouth he actually tore part of his lip off because the metal whistle had frozen in his mouth!

I of course remember the day well, Dad and I were pheasant hunting and the car radio kept fading in and out as we tried to listen to the game...

Thanks for bring back those great memories!

 

[GreenGoldAngel]

The story of the referees not blowing their whistles was funny. Reminded me of a scene from "A Christmas Story"
where a kid thought he could lick a metal pole and his tongue was frozen to the pole. My advise on cold weather is, take a glass of warm water, throw it in the the air, and if not a drop of water hits the ground (it all turns to snow), go back to bed. I did this experiment after I saw it on the news, It worked (-50 wind chill).

 

[AmishMafia]

I of course remember the day well, Dad and I were pheasant hunting and the car radio kept fading in and out as we tried to listen to the game...

Thanks for bring back those great memories!

And I thought those players were hard-core. You had a choice and you still went outside to hunt!

A tip of my amish hat to you sir!

 

[3irty1]

hahaha i've heard the whistle story before, but the rest was new! thanks guys for the history lesson!

 

[OldSchoolFan]

And I thought those players were hard-core. You had a choice and you still went outside to hunt!

A tip of my amish hat to you sir!

I would give anything, anything right now, just to be a kid again and hunt pheasants with my Dad. He has been gone 3 years now and I still think about him every day. Remember that scene at the end of the movie "Field of Dreams", where Ray Kensella meets his "young" father and plays catch with him?

That is how I will always remember my Dad, him about 35, me about 11 or 12, hunting pheasants with him in the snowy cornfields in late December...

 

[JBlood]

Great post, OSF!.

origin of "frozen tundra" by ezinearticles.com

"The nickname of 'Frozen Tundra' was first spawned by the infamous NFL Championship game in 1967 between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. Bill Woodson in his narration, coined the phrase 'frozen tundra' during the NFL Championship game in 1967 which also became known as the 'Ice Bowl'. The famous game was played in temperatures as low as -13F along with high winds."

The field is heated. This is from wikianswers.com

"

In 2006, the Green Bay Packers decided to renovate the "actual" field. However, this decision was not due to the field heating system, but the integrity and logistics of its age old construction. The field was completely removed down to the sub-grade including the field heat tubing, drainage, irrigation, and electrical systems. The areas within the field were graded to achieve one final elevation, thus removing the many sloped entrances and pathways within the bowl. This final elevation is actually nearly 12" lower than the previous installed field, making the famous "Lambeau Leap" a larger obstacle for some players.

The field received a new heating system located 10" below the surface. There is an estimated 30 miles of tubing that controls the heating of not only the field, but the camera path, players entrance, and trench drain. The system also received new boilers, pumps, valves and an updated controls system.
In addition to this system, in 2009, the Green Bay packers installed a field heating system in the newly renovated Ray Nitchke Field. Although not fully heated (only 60 yards) it allows the players to practice in the frigid temperatures, less susceptible to injury."

Read more: Answers.com - Is Lambeau Field heated​

 

[OldSchoolFan]

Hopefully the moderators will cut me some slack, but here is the best video I have seen on the game. Snuggle up next to the fireplace like I am, put up with the commercials and enjoy the film.

Hulu - Greatest Games: 1967 the Ice Bowl - Watch the full episode now.

 

[GreenGoldAngel]

I would give anything, anything right now, just to be a kid again and hunt pheasants with my Dad. He has been gone 3 years now and I still think about him every day. Remember that scene at the end of the movie "Field of Dreams", where Ray Kensella meets his "young" father and plays catch with him?

That is how I will always remember my Dad, him about 35, me about 11 or 12, hunting pheasants with him in the snowy cornfields in late December...

OldSchoolFan...every time you tell a story, you bring tears to my eyes. When I saw "Field of Dreams, I realized my dad and I had never played catch (and now we never can) He took me to football games, baseball games, bowling, golf (a golf course was his "Field of Dreams" and when I finally beat him in golf, I never played again).
And now I realized I never played catch with my sons....taught them how to play stickball, threw fastballs at them for hours, took them to batting cages, but never played catch. That will be a New Years resolution that I will keep.

 

[OldSchoolFan]

GGA & perhaps everyone...

Play catch with your kids, visit your mother, take you Dad out for a ride. Call your old high school friends, stop by and see your sister..

It took a near death experience for me to understand that we all only have so many days on this earth...leave no regrets, leave with no enemies.

Be well, set your priorities & values in life and live it to the fullest!

 

[Wood Chipper]

this is why i joined the forum for threads like this

 

[AmishMafia]

this is why i joined the forum for threads like this

Its not why I joined. It was an unexpected benefit.

I am going to call my Dad in a minute. God bless you OSF! Some of my earliest memories where chasing pheasants with my Dad behind our Brittnies. Why my Dad took me when I was only about 5? I'm not sure, probably at the insistence of Mom to get me out of the house. I had a heck of a time keeping up - but I loved every minute of it.