"It's just that when you feel like it's your baby that you're trying to protect, and that's kind of how I feel about my fields, I tend to take it a little personally. It's a pretty big emotion."

-- Mark Vessell, the groundskeeper for the St. Louis Youth Soccer Association complex, which has suffered an estimated $1 million in damage when heavy rain caused by Hurricane Ike sent Mississippi River water pouring on to Vessell's fields for the third time in three months. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)