For stadium's sod, grass greener elsewhere

When it comes to ego, Minnesotans seem to possess a genetic paradox. We don't want to brag, we always say -- but then, we do. Our kids are smarter. Our quality of life is superior. Even our grass is greener, if you believe the folks moaning about the choice of turf for the Twins' new Target Field.

The state's sports fans might be starved for outdoor baseball, as the boosters have been repeating for years, but some of them apparently have limits. The Minnesota-only crowd is outraged that the Twins contracted with a Colorado company to grow the stadium sod, despite ample evidence that Graff's Turf Farms produces the horticultural equivalent of Russian caviar or New York bagels. It's a ridiculous reaction, yet it's utterly predictable in Minnesota's aggressively provincial sports culture.

The turf tempest is the latest evidence of our state's tendency toward self-absorption. For some of our brethren, state pride has morphed into a smug insularity that demands unwavering loyalty to all things Minnesotan. Consider:

• Zach Parise, the hockey phenom who played at Shattuck-St. Mary's, was labeled a "traitor" when he chose North Dakota over the Gophers. Players who have left the state for USA Hockey's elite development program, or for junior teams, have been lambasted for not playing high school hockey as every good Minnesota boy must do. And a Star Tribune series about Chanhassen's Nick Mattson, who joined USA Hockey's program, caused a local high school coach to scold the paper for writing about someone who left the state.

• A sizable contingent of Gophers puckheads fiercely supported the ideal of recruiting only Minnesota players, despite 23 years without an NCAA championship. They were riled when coach Don Lucia signed Grant Potulny of North Dakota, and they didn't relent until he scored the winning goal in the 2002 NCAA title game.

• To be truly accepted by our more parochial fans, players from out of state must embrace the culture (hunting and ice fishing score big points; summer homes up North qualify for honorary citizenship). But they prefer athletes with local roots and will lobby relentlessly for them. Former Wild honchos Doug Risebrough and Jacques Lemaire -- Canadian interlopers in the State of Hockey! -- were routinely criticized for passing up any Minnesotan who could skate.

These are the same people who were infuriated that the Twins would spend even a penny of the stadium budget on something that wasn't produced here. Never mind that the playing field requires a highly specialized sod, not the stuff you put in your backyard, and that no Minnesota growers had experience in producing a major-league surface.

With many citizens still upset about the public's financial contribution to the stadium, the Twins might have circumvented some hard feelings by mandating that all stadium spending remain in Minnesota. But they could not afford to take any risks with the crowning glory of Target Field -- the grass that symbolizes the long-awaited return of outdoor baseball -- and spent wisely by choosing a proven product.

The Minnesota-centric should be soothed by the fact that the sod was trucked to the stadium by Fortune Transportation of Windom, Minn. It will be cut for the first time today with equipment from Bloomington's Toro Co., which also supplied the irrigation system, and will grow in soil provided by Plaisted Companies of Elk River. Those still offended by the Colorado grass can look at the facade of Minnesota limestone and the native shrubs and trees surrounding it.

Or perhaps they could just lighten up. Instead of whining about where the sod came from, urge the Twins to put their money into another Minnesota-grown product: a long-term contract for St. Paul's Joe Mauer. That's a precious local resource everyone can appreciate, provincial or not.