It's amazing how perspective changes when the story is not about a man-made product but rather a human being.

When the Argonauts' new ownership purchased a playing surface to replace the worn-out carpet used for the past 15 years at SkyDome, it became a story -- a field-good story, if you will.

In fact, the day before the home opener against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Tuesday, co-owner Howard Sokolowski marvelled at the site of some workers laying down strips of the field that is installed like long sheets of sod, while tiny granulated pieces of rubber were dispersed over top by a truck that resembled a salt sprinkler.

The old turf had been considered the worst in the CFL and, according to many players, unsafe.

So the new owners decided to buck up.

This surface is not Field Turf, which popularized the use of synthetic grass and rubber and has its head office in Montreal.

In fact, when some media reports described the surface as Field Turf, the Montreal-based company called the Argos to voice concerns.

The Argos issued a news release to correct any misconceptions, letting everyone know this surface was called Game Day Turf and produced by Michigan-based Generalsports Turf Systems.

The talk about the field continued on game day and provided one more reason to check out the Argos, circa 2004.

While the Roughriders had concerns beforehand about the turf -- which had loose, wrinkled areas in some places -- and expressed that to CFL vice-president Ed Chalupka, the game went ahead as scheduled.

But the whole story suddenly took on a totally different perspective when Saskatchewan's starting quarterback, Nealon Greene, broke his left leg early in the game and had to be carted off.

DID FIELD CAUSE INJURY?

Was it the field that caused the injury? Suddenly, that became the question.

Toronto linebacker Michael Fletcher, who tackled Greene on the play, indicated he didn't hit the quarterback particularly hard.

Saskatchewan coach Danny Barrett refused to speculate about the effect of the surface on Greene's injury. What Barrett did say was how devastating the injury was from a human perspective.

"Obviously the young man has worked himself into a position to be our starting quarterback coming into the season," Barrett said. "It's unfortunate, but whether it happens tonight or whether it happens in Week 18, you feel for anybody.

"It's a tough situation. He's a young man, he's resilient, hopefully he bounces back and he's able to resume his career."

In the Saskatchewan locker room, Rocky Butler, who took over from Greene, spoke about the devastation felt by the team following the injury.

"It was a big shock to everybody," Butler said. "He's a big part of our offence, what makes the team tick. To see stuff happen like that, especially so early in the game, kind of took a lot out of us in the first half.

"He's a personal friend -- a very good friend -- it was just sad to see something happen like that happen, too."

Try as he did, Butler could not bring the team back from a 21-0 halftime disadvantage, although he helped the Roughriders put 10 points on the board in a 21-10 loss.

Clearly, the damage on the scoreboard and the collective psyches of the Saskatchewan players had been too much and that, not the field, was the real story.