[frankdatank]

sorry for the delay...i have been very busy the past few weeks.




first day (monday 5/15)

weather was about 55 degrees in the morning...overnight low was about 40. coming from california, that is frickin cold.

as we measured out the dimensions for the field, we realized that field 1 would extend on to the gravel lot by about 10 feet.

before anyone asks why:

Originally Posted by Paul@CPX

... The NPPL was given access to any piece of grass at CPX that wanted. However the vendors complained last year that they wanted to be closer to the Living Legends event, which inturn made it necessary for the fields to be closer to the vendors. Also, setting up the main vendor walk-way on asphalt and/gravel was done to avoid a very muddy situation if it rained. The other option would have been to move everything further east which would have meant a lot of walking, upset vendors, and not much interaction with the 1,200 plus players at Living Legends...

we had to bring a few rolls of turf to cover up the dirt.





after a little straightening, we get the turf lined up correctly.



up next we started laying out the poles that will eventually support the cables and nets.



to keep the poles standing up securely, we have to hammer 4-foot long stakes into the ground. this takes about 50 strikes with a 16 lb sledge per stake. and we have to put about 35 stakes per field, and we had 2 fields this event. so you figure about 3500 swings of a 16 lb sledgehammer to finish the job.



after standing up the poles, we strap the poles to the stakes in the ground.



there was also an issue of bleachers that were on the field, we had to deal with that in a couple of days.



day two (5/17)

very windy, so we could not hang nets as of yet. so we made sure we tied up all the loose ends so first thing in the morning we could start to hang nets.

we do the pole-and-stake thing on field 2.





as we set up field 2, we noticed a large bare spot on one side of the field.



we had a couple extra rolls of turf, so we laid them out on field 2.

[frankdatank]

we had a 6am start today...well 'we' meaning the rest of the crew. i think i got up around 730ish. at that time field 2 had the net installed, and ready to have the bunkers placed.



the bleacher and tent companies start setting up their areas as well today.



the rest of my day will be spent setting up the bunkers on both fields.



on this layout, there was a can laying down at the 50. there are no anchors installed on the can to lay it on its side, so i have to create some with spare material.



day 4 (5/19)

fields are finished.



today is spent going over every last detail, and fixing whatever problems we see. i found a rock on field 1 and spray painted it so we could dig it out later. when we dug out the rock it was a lot larger than i thought:



the white circle was the only part exposed above ground.

i take a lot of pride in knowing when i set up a field, it is set up exactly like how it is on paper. i make sure my tapelines are perfectly straight:



if you look closely you can see the edge of the 50 brick and the opposite corner-all lined up.

there are also subtleties not noticed by anyone but myself. such as these 2 doritos that arent lined up correctly.

if you notice, the tops arent lined up, meaning the doritos are a little twisted. this could affect players lanes, depending on what side of the field they are on.



after fixing it, the doritos are lined up straight.



i had a little extra time over the week to take a couple photos of the park. who can find these areas?

step up jump covered in grass (easy):



tiki man (easy):



2x4 mountain bike doubles (medium-hard):



locals should have no problem finding these.

[frankdatank]

not much work while the tournament is going on. trash runs, bringing water to the various areas of the tournament, bringing beer to VIP.

after all games are played each day, we go in and hose off the bunkers, start tables, and dead boxes on the field.





we also hose off the chrono station. it seems like most of the paint is around the elbow:





repeat for friday, saturday, and sunday.

monday, tuesday, weds (5/22-24)

bunkers were removed sunday night by field owners who purchased them. its interesting to see the pattern left behind in the grass, you could pretty much setup the field again using the pattern:








nets are removed from the poles:



stakes have to be removed from the turf before we can roll it up:



nets are rolled up and poles taken down:



the bleacher company shows up and tears down VIP and the surrounding bleachers:



another interesting perspective is comparing the amount of paint between the pro field and divisional field.

divisional field:



pro field:



this is the area behind the snake corner on each field.

turf gets rolled up:



everything gets put into crates and will be placed on a flatbed for its trip back to california:



and there you have it, NPPL chicago 2011. enjoy!

[***MINIONS*** (Banned)]

Originally Posted by frankdatank

after fixing it, the doritos are lined up straight.

uh i dont think that hammer is part of the layout.

[frankdatank]

had to put some weight on that corner to see if it was lined up right before staking it in

[TherealInsomniac]

Very cool post.
Do more like these.

[Tim Kuykendall]

Frank, Very cool. It gives a lot of perspective to what goes into the before and after events.

In rough estimate how many days and total man-hours to sep-up (game ready) and take down (shipping ready)?

[frankdatank]

Monday through Thursday before the event is minimum 12 hours each day.

Friday-saturday-Sunday of the event we are there maybe 14 hours, but that isn't entirely accurate. We have to be there at 530-6am to stock water jugs and turn on power etc., but then we will sit around until something needs to be done. So you figure a bunch of 'union 15' breaks throughout the day. After all the games are done each day we will have about 4 hours of work to do to prep for the next day.

Teardown is mon-tues-weds (Thursday if turf is involved) and we will do 10-12 hour days.

In chicago we had 8 people staffed for setup/teardown.

[The_Fresh]

awesome look behind the scenes! thanks for doing good meticulous work, it matters!

[ToxicWaste (Banned)]

Sick nice job.

[jarude]

Thanks for this frank. Hopefully this thread will silence the critics who thinks you and the rest of the staff at the nppl or any national event for that matter, don't work hard or that it is easy to run a national event.

[devo66]

Great Pics looks like a fun time

[NkdMangina]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing and for your hardwork at event