If you have not read about George Toma, the Super Bowl groundskeeper guru, then read a recent article about his efforts associated with Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans. I had the pleasure to meet George at my first STMA annual conference in 2003. Years earlier he had endorsed our Tru Mark Model E-100 12-volt battery operated airless diaphragm pump 3 wheel deck field marker as a new entry into the field marking industry, first introduced in 1995.

George Toma has been recognized many times for his tireless work ethic and support to the sports turf industry. The Sports Turf Management Association have a annual award, George Toma Golden Rake Award, to recognize annually a sports turf professional. He is one of the few recognized for the Professional Football Hall of Fame Pioneer Award, voted in in 2001, never having played in a professional football game, and more recently voted into the KC Royals Hall of Fame, 2012.

In 2000 the radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh recognized George Toma's attention to detail while supporting the Super Bowl XXVIII, George's statement, "You always do everything you can and then a little more". Rush went on to recognize this statement in 2007 as his own EIB philosophy.

George Toma has collected many of his tricks of the trade to make sports turf managers job more efficient and playing surfaces safer for the participants in a book, Nitty Gritty Dirt Man, George Toma and Alan Goforth, 2004. An excellent short biography can be found at George Toma: From Single A to the Super Bowl . . . and Then Some, By Kevin Burrows, LSMP Editor.