The 2023 NFL Week 2 Roundup | Paydirt
THE Glenshaw Formation spans — and undergirds — nearly the entire western half of Pennsylvania before spilling over into nearby Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio. At 307 million years old, this layered sedimentary bedrock averages 700 feet in thickness and carries with it alternating sequences of sandstone, limestone, red bed claystone, shale, siltstone, and coal. Just 39 miles from Pittsburgh, the town of Sarver — confidently perched atop the Glenshaw Formation — is more famous than you know. It’s perfectly situated at a fold in the Formation allowing for easy extraction of red bed claystone. This claystone you’d recognize instantly as it’s the crucial ingredient in two thirds of all MLB in-fields. A third of a millennia in the making, the Glenshaw has revealed its secret. And America’s pastime has become enamored with it; in equal parts for its consistency, durability, beauty, safety and purity. The story of how red bed claystone under foots an American touchstone is an unsung one. It remains an interesting one nevertheless.
DuraEdge Products, founded in 1999, tripped into infield dirt by accident. Grant McKnight, unhappy with the meager returns earned on supplying sand and gravel for construction projects, relentlessly pushed his family’s aggregate company to pivot into higher-value (and more profitable) materials. His first attempt at peddling his soil mix wares to golf courses was met stiff resistance from a market rooted in strict adherence to tradition and long held suppliers. Nevermind untested and unknown dynamics between Grant’s “radical” soil mix and golf’s bespoke grass seed. Golf courses to Grant: Next!! Frustrated and dejected, a chance meeting at an opportune trade show turned Grant’s ears to the world of baseball. There, he learned that nearby Slippery Rock University was in the design process of constructing a new baseball field. He leapt at the opportunity to work with the school’s baseball manager (who in turn was thrilled to collaborate with a local, homegrown company) in engineering a one-of-a-kind concept field. Grant had no experience in baseball but his vast knowledge of material science and its potential application to sports is what cemented his relationship with the university. He and the baseball manger spent months toying with differing ratios of clay, silt and sand before arriving at a pitch-perfect recipe. The mix’s moisture retention, bounce-back tension and sheer durability were an instant, inspired success.
It wasn’t long before word spread to professional circles. The Phillies paid a visit in 2004 and were so enamored and intrigued with Grant’s concoction that they had a prototype bed installed at Citizen’s Bank Park for testing purposes. Enamored, the Phillies became an official customer a year later. From there, groundkeepers from around the League toured Citizen’s, test drove the dirt and sifted through Grant’s voluminous analytics. Two out of three ultimately bought on and IN. DuraEdge had become a brand standard.
Perfecting the recipe wasn’t easy. When excavated from the ground, claystone is battered into stones roughly the size of anvils. At the processing facility, a bulldozer further crushes the claystone into bits the size of your fist. The ever-shrinking stones are then fed into a beatly, scary, hurly-burly, dust-encrusted belt-driven cantilevered milling machine (a REMO crusher) that spins at 1800 rpm, the output of which is a pleasing clay sand with a talc-like feel. The refined claystone is then ground with sand and silt in a so-called pug mill to create a homogenous mix. The classic MLB recipe is 58–62% sand, 38–42% clay/silt. The MLB recipe boasts of superb moisture retention despite increased maintenance needs. For a typical MLB stadium, about 350 tons of infield clay mix is needed and can run up to $80K. Once installed, the infield is laser-graded and covered by a thin layer of top dressing/conditioner. This layer helps with minimizing moisture evaporation and enhancing player slide characteristics. Finally, a 1.5 ton roller compacts the infield sandwich before a customary watering complete the package. Day-to-day maintenance poses an ongoing challenge. You don’t want baseballs bouncing back unpredictably into someone’s teeth nor do you want a slide in dry, resistant dirt to cause an ankle roll, or worse. For these and a myriad of other reasons, in-ground moisture sensors alert groundskeepers to in-field health. The telltale sign of textbook in-field soil mix? When a ball bounces back perfectly, as if rebounding off of corkboard.
DuraEdge is head-and-shoulders above its competitors in supplying engineered in-field soil to all of baseball. It claims that claystone excavated from the Glenshaw Formation is like no other in the world, especially and because of its unique moisture retention characteristics (even among other clays from elsewhere in the United States or the world). The company maintains the ancient unique-to-western-Pennsylvania sedimentary pressures below ground and complex mineral makeup endemic to the area play indisputable (and sacrosanct) roles in its claystone mix. The more consistent the in-field moisture, the more consistent the in-field itself and the game played atop it. Less injuries, less upkeep, more uptime, more money through the gate. Competing soil companies balk at DuraEdge’s magical clay proclamations. They insist clay is clay is clay and ALL DAY and chalk up DuraEdge’s claimed geologic blessing to little more than imaginative, if well written, marketing spin. Sour grapes, as DuraEdge waves away such dismissals. To them, the proof in the claystone pudding. Whatever the case, leave it to MLB to transform a 307 million year sediment into literal paydirt.
From paydirt to the gridiron, the NFL trundles ever-forward with Week 2 now entombed in acrylic. It was a week where rhythms and patterns are beginning to emerge; some faintly, some definitively. All in all, an intriguing week where underdogs overperform while others plumb the depths of low expectations. Acquitting himself nicely in the post-Aaron Rodgers era, Packers starting QB Jordan Love reeled off his second game in a row with 3 TDs each. An impressive start despite an alarming defensive absence that allowed the Falcons victory in the 4th. A tough one for GB, good on the ATL. Acquitting himself not as nicely in the post-Aaron Rodgers era (for now), Jets backup and now starting QB (for now) Zach Wilson displayed a troubling revision to the mean. Though to his credit, not many can withstand the withering defensive pounding that is DAL’s boilerplate. Still, he threw for 170 yards across 27 attempts and collected 1 TD and 4 INTs. Barring any unforeseen offensive addition relegating Zach to backup once more, the Jets Jets Jets might be done done done. Allegedly. The battering ram that IS Dallas continues in its damaging ways. Don’t look now but the Cowbows are breaking out.
Down in Jacksonville, the bloom is definitely OFF the KC rose. The Chiefs carried out a languid offensive push with an uncharacteristically subdued Mahomes outing. They were saved by their Defense on the other side of the ball which worked masterfully in the end to subdue QB Trevor Lawrence and his Jags, 17–9. It was a WIN for the Chiefs, a belabored one at that to pair with the team’s loss last week. The Giants surprised the Cards after being shutout in the first half, battling back to a 31–28 victory. NYG QB Daniel Jones received some type of inspiration at halftime to blast away ARI’s nest. A glaring Cardinal defensive weakness was underlined as a result. Unfortunately for New York, the team will be without star RB Saquon Barkley, who suffered an apparent sprained ankle in the twilight of the matchup. He’s currently listed as week-to-week. UP in Foxborough, the Patriots got up close and personal with a reflection that is unfamiliar to them; though one that is becoming a function of reality. A reflection of LOSS. NE is now 0–2 to start the season, a distinction you’d have to revisit 2001 to recognize such is magnitude of misfortune. The Fins visited and were clearly riding on the carryover momentum of last week’s blockbuster of a game against LAC. MIA cruised through the first three quarters with 17 unanswered points when NE QB Mac Jones attempted a valiant 4th quarter comeback. But as with all things Pats of late, the drive came up a donut short and a stinging 17–24 loss resulted. NE is a young team that might mature into a winning one. For now, the Team looks to be watching the playoffs from their sofa, not Gillette.
And finally in our Round Robin, Josh Allen and his Bills FINALLY returned to form against Jimmy G and the visiting Raiders, 38–10, at home. RB James Cook, cooked per usual. Over in Cinci, Joe Burrow was unbenched and started. A vast offensive improvement (compared to last week) rolled out just as Lamar Jackson took flight with his Ravens in a crucial, thrilling 27–24 victory for BAL. Charm City’s DEF is legit while the team’s offensive line protected their locomotive impressively despite injury. The ravens soar to 2–0 as the Bengals deflate to sad trombones, 0–2. The Bears appear to be collecting eggs to lay for the rest of the season just as a rookie REC Puka Nacua burst into stratosphere for the Rams (15 receptions/147 yards). The Rams, with a back to norm Matt Stafford, still lost to the industrial-strength 49ers 23–30, but for LA, a star is born. In hindsight, a genius pickup. The Commanders apparently have shaken the Dan Snyder curse (2–0) for the moment while last night, NOLA shooed away the Panthers and the Steelers slaked in a much-needed W against the Brownies, a game that witnessed CLE RB Nick Chubb’s knee and leg kinda pivot forwards the way knees and shouldn’t pivot. We hope the best for the superstar in what is likely a journey measured in months, if not years. Didn’t take long for the NFL’s underbelly to appear. Sigh.
