Dec. 18, 2009
By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
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ST. PETERSBURG - UCF coach George O'Leary walked across Tropicana Field's converted baseball diamond-turned-football field on Friday afternoon when a revelation suddenly came to him.
``This is where Derek Jeter stands," cracked O'Leary, an unabashed fan of the New York Yankees.
UCF's players and coaches had their moments of fun during Friday's 90-minute visit to Tropicana Field, the site of Saturday night's St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef O'Bradys against Rutgers.
Because the venue is usually home to the Tampa Bay Rays, the site was converted into a football field and tucked in one end of Tropicana Field. The dirt infield, the baselines and home plate were covered with green turf, and the pitcher's mound was flattened out and turfed-over.
UCF star tailback Brynn Harvey, a Rays fan from nearby Largo, pretended to throw a pitch from what used to be the mound, while one Knight playfully took swings against air from where home plate is normally positioned.
Other than the hash mark for point-after-touchdowns being incorrectly placed, it will be fixed by Saturday night, O'Leary said he saw no problems with the playing surface for Saturday's showdown against the Scarlet Knights (8-4). UCF did utilize its indoor practice facility back on campus before coming to St. Pete, but O'Leary said they did that more for noise reasons than a need to get used to playing on field turf.
``You could see where the infield was and it's a little lower, but a field is a field," O'Leary said. ``It's the same for both teams. Everything should be fine."
O'Leary is excited about the potential for noise inside the dome, especially when considering that UCF (8-4) is expecting to have 20,000 of the 28,000 in attendance. O'Leary said he's traveled to St. Pete for a baseball game before, but he's never been witnessed a football game in the facility.
``It's a great facility and it should be really loud," O'Leary said. ``I've been here before for a baseball game and it's a loud place. This game will be a good matchup, so I think it'll be pretty loud in here."
UCF will enter and exit the field from what's usually the visitors' dugout, walking up the same steps as David Ortiz, Roy Halladay and Jeter during baseball season. Home plate and the first base line are out of bounds, but the third baseline runs along the 2-yard-line.
There are minor dips in the surface where the infield dirt usually is and players bounced on what was formerly the pitcher's mound, remarking about the hollowness of the area.
Unlike baseball where The Trop's catwalks are a problem on home runs and pop ups, they won't be a factor on punts or kickoffs. UCF returners fielded several punts Friday under the dome's translucent roof.
``The only thing I was worried about was checking out punts and kickoffs and making sure there were no dark spots," O'Leary said. ``I don't know what (the roof) will look like at night, but the lights should be plenty bright."
Because UCF should have an overwhelming advantage in the size of its crowd, the UCF sections will start at its 40-yard line and wrap around the field all the way past the opposite corner of the end zone. Four additional sections - two in each end zone - were freed up when UCF needed three additional allotments of tickets.
UCF's side will be nearest to baseball's left field wall, a section that won't be used because of its proximity away from the field. Rutgers' sideline will back up to the majority of the fans.
Rutgers, officially the home team, will wear red jerseys and white pants, while UCF will don all white uniforms.
John Denton's Knights Insider appears several times per week on UCFAthletics.com. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.