Like many, Heather Nabozny has spent the past three weeks awaiting the big game taking place on Sunday - but not by following the divisional playoffs or tracking the latest spreads.
Instead, Nabozny, a 1993 MSU graduate and head groundskeeper for the Detroit Tigers, has spent the past 20 days as part of the crew transforming and re-sodding Houston's Reliant Stadium for Super Bowl XXXVIII.
"It's a real honor to be down here," Nabozny said from Houston. "But it's no vacation; we're working seven days a week for three weeks."
Nabozny, 33, is one of two women working with the crew of 30, which includes field professionals from all over the country.
Other turf managers in attendance include those from the Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins and San Diego Padres, as well as several other groundskeeping staff members from various baseball and football venues.
The opportunity to be involved with one of professional sport's biggest events wasn't something Nabozny was able to seek out herself; it is an honor one must be selected for. Nabozny's career has been filled with similar milestones, including being the first female head groundskeeper in Major League Baseball.
"Heather is one of the best in the business," said Jim Stapleton, Tigers senior vice president of business affairs. "Her work on football's highest stage is an honor and credit to her skill and reputation."
Working with turf and lawn-tending was something Nabozny grew up with. Her dad owned a lawn-care business in Milford, and her interest grew from there.
In 1990, after attending a seminar on the Sports and Commercial Turf Management program at MSU, Nabozny knew she had found her calling.
"She was my first sports turf student," said David Gilstrap, coordinator of MSU's Sports and Commercial Turf Management program. "She was the first one that said 'I'm doing sports.'
"Heather was a good student - but she was anxious to get out and test her mettle."
Similar to baseball players, groundskeepers must work their way up from the minors to the pros. So, before heading to Detroit, Nabozny tallied a few other baseball fields on her résumé. She started out at the Toronto Blue Jays' spring training camp in Dunedin, Fla.
"Once I graduated from State, I stuck with baseball. I knew I wanted to be in the majors one day," she said. "Sports turf just seemed like a real fit; I'm athletic myself, so it fit me."
Nabozny's next stop would be Grand Rapids' Old Kent Park (now Fifth Third Ballpark), where she would serve as head groundskeeper for the West Michigan Whitecaps, the Tigers' Class A affiliate.
Nabozny became the first female head groundskeeper in MLB history on March 1, 1999, when she accepted the job for the Detroit Tigers.
"I always said I wanted to be in the majors - I can't believe it happened," she said. "There's only 30 of these jobs available in the U.S. To be able to hold one of those jobs is great."
Her first season was the last for Tiger Stadium, making Nabozny the first and only head groundskeeper at Comerica Park.
In just five years with the majors, Nabozny has acquired experience that has given her recognition all over the turf management realm.
She even has her own fan club, the International Unofficial Heather Nabozny Fan Club, by which she is referred to as "turf goddess." Nabozny also was featured on NBC's "The Today Show" soon after being hired by the Tigers, and she received the 2001 Dick Ericson Award from the Sports Turf Managers Association.
"I know she's 'getting in' with the rest of the commercial turf world," Gilstrap said. "She has consistently made the most accomplishments; she's won an award.
"It's all about the success of the graduates; that's what all teachers live for."
Gilstrap said MSU has the leading sports turf management program in the country and currently has 35 graduates employed in the field. One of those graduates, Ryan Kaspitzke, is working alongside Nabozny in Houston.
"He's head groundskeeper for the Dayton Dragons," Gilstrap said. "He's on his way up, too, obviously. He could very well be the next Spartan in the majors."
So, while the rest of the country watches the New England Patriots battle the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Kaspitzke and Nabozny will gaze at the field in awe and watch three weeks of hard labor be dismantled.
But it's all part of the job that Nabozny says is well worth it.
Once she returns to Michigan, Nabozny will begin hiring staff for field preparation that will, if weather permits, begin in March.
And no matter what team she might be working for, Nabozny maintains that she's a Spartan fan wherever she goes.
"I've got my Spartan hat on right now."
Janet Harp can be reached at harpjane@msu.edu.
