Some Minnesota sod growers lately have been sounding like Al Franken’s old “Saturday Night Live” character, the hyper-sensitive and emotionally needy Stuart Smalley:

“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!”

It seems that those who grow grass for a living in this state are put out because the Minnesota Twins infringed upon their turf.

Which is to say, the ballclub didn’t buy the new Target Field grass from a business with a Minnesota ZIP code.

A fair share of Minnesotans seem to be miffed as well, their rants in print and to call-in radio shows falling along two lines:

How dare the Twins and their tax-subsidized ballpark use public money to buy grass grown in Colorado?

And:

Whatsa matter, our grass not good enough?

Yes, folks, it’s good enough. And smart enough, even. But doggone it, Minnesota didn’t have a dog in this hunt, so get over it.

The parochial narrow-minds of many in this state never ceases to amaze.

If people who are peeved had bothered to give even a cursory look into the particulars, they might take a more perceptive view of how major professional sports operations go about sodbusting their stadiums.

Certainly those in the sod business should be a bit more circumspect about their comments.

“I think we could have done it certainly for less,” said Minnesota Turf Association President Gary Blocker, who farms sod north of Duluth. “They are getting a good product, but I wish it would have come from Minnesota.”

And this from Leon Dahle, who owns a Morristown sod farm:

“I don’t know why the Twins did that. Grass is the same or better here than what comes from Colorado.”

That may be, but that’s also beside the point.

Some pertinent facts:

The Twins interviewed 17 growers and selected one capable of conforming to the specs and the product the team and its stadium contractor sought.

Graff’s Turf Farms in Morgan, Colo., was selected to grow the Kentucky bluegrass blend because the indigenous sandy soil there most closely mimics the deep sand base of Target Field’s playing surface.

Moreover, the Colorado farm has something no Minnesota operation can match — a track record of turf-installation at sports venues including Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Wrigley Field in Chicago, even a Vikings’ practice field in Eden Prairie.

Target Field isn’t some middle-school ballyard in Bemidji. It’s a ballpark for Major League Baseball, and the sod contractor the Twins selected is commensurate with that distinction.

Bob Weerts, owner of Winnebago-based Blue Valley Sod, said his firm had a shot at the contract but had to pass due to the meticulous standards required by professional sports organizations.

He said he understands why the Twins opted for the Colorado firm; it specializes in sports stadium installations. But on this issue, that type of understanding seems to be in short supply.

More facts:

Ninety percent of all materials and labor used to build Target Field are from Minnesota.

The expanses of limestone used on the ballpark’s exterior are from a quarry just outside Mankato.

The trucking firm used to haul the sod from Colorado is based in Windom. Sand for the turf’s base comes from a Twin Cities area mining operation.

And yet some people want to believe that Minnesota has received a slap in the face.

One guy, in a letter to a Twin Cities newspaper, opined that Minnesota grass should be good enough because Joe Mauer is certainly more than good enough — and he’s a “Minnesota-made product.”

By this guy’s logic, then, Joe Nathan (Texan), Denard Span (Floridian) and Justin Morneau and Orlando Cabrera (gol’danged foreigners from Canada and Colombia), should have been passed over in favor of some fine Minnesota boys.

If provincialism were a pair of pants, a lot of folks in this state would wear them to tatters.



Brian Ojanpa is a Free Press staff writer. Call him at 344-6316 or e-mail bojanpa@mankatofreepress.com.