Three seconds in the paint is normally a basketball violation. But the Carrier Dome field management team could have been called for it during the home opener for the Syracuse football team 10 days ago.

Three seconds in the paint – as in, it looked like Dome management spent three seconds painting over the M-E-N in what once was the ‘ORANGEMEN’ end zone and putting the new SU logo in its place. The paint was a completely different shade of green compared to the rest of the Dome’s turf.

In preparation for this Saturday’s game against Rutgers, Dome management promises a better-looking end zone.

‘What we had for the Cincinnati game was not sufficient,’ SU Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel said, ‘and you know it.’

Unless you spent three seconds with your nose in paint chips, you know Crouthamel is right. It was clear Van Gogh didn’t head up the paint job in the end zone.

Management painted over the ‘M-E-N’ with a darker green than that of the Dome’s turf. As players ran over the paint (yes, Syracuse did manage two touchdowns that game), it flaked off, leaving the orange lettering visible underneath.

‘That’s why it looked so bad,’ Carrier Dome Managing Director Patrick Campbell said. ‘So we’re putting a better grade of paint on it for this time around.’

Which is great news – if you’re Sherman Williams.

But the paint job was one that Dome management was forced to make, Campbell said. One problem led to another, and like a can of paint, things got, er, shaken up.

When Syracuse University, with the help of Nike, decided to change the school’s nickname to the Orange, Campbell and Dome management knew the Orangemen end zone had to be reconstructed.

The first option, and most logical decision, was to replace the end zone with new AstroTurf, Campbell said.

‘We first went out and tried to locate AstroTurf with the same height and color,’ Campbell said. ‘We obviously want the color to match perfectly, but the height is more important because we don’t want anybody tripping out there.’

On the field, not on the paint chips.

Anyway, Syracuse would have contacted Southwest Recreational Industries, the corporation that originally installed the Dome’s turf, but the Texas-based turf-maker filed for bankruptcy last February.

At that time, SRI reported a debt of $88.1 million.

The moral lesson for kids: Selling grass doesn’t pay.

Meanwhile, SU’s search for the perfect matching turf ended in vain.

‘We don’t know of any AstroTurf suppliers,’ Crouthamel said, ‘at least none that matched what we have. There were some that offered different colors and materials.’

With time winding down before the home opener, Campbell was forced to use paint to change the end zone. It was a decision Campbell made reluctantly.

‘We painted over (the M-E-N) in the end zone,’ Campbell said, ‘and we had to. There’s a reason why. I would have loved to have used AstroTurf to fix the end zone.’

But the days of AstroTurf in the Dome are numbered. If turf toes, turf burns and stress fractures weren’t a good enough reason, the Dome’s turf is in its 11th season. The expected life of AstroTurf is anywhere from 10 to 15 years.

Campbell said he expects to replace the AstroTurf in the Dome within the next five years and his plans, thankfully, don’t include any paints.

‘I’d love to go with FieldTurf,’ Campbell said. ‘I think it’s a surface that’s being seen more and more in the NFL and in college.’

FieldTurf is made up of fake grass blades, woven together onto a carpet-like backing. Poured onto that backing and underneath the grass blades are sand and tiny rubber pellets, which give FieldTurf much more give than AstroTurf. FieldTurf grass blades are also coated to prevent turf burn.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Boston College installed FieldTurf at the beginning of this past season.

Crouthamel, though, is not committed to anything. Crouthamel said Syracuse is still in the early phases of researching what the Carrier Dome can and cannot handle.

‘You have to have a consistent surface,’ Crouthamel said. ‘You can’t go from one surface to another because that creates a playing hazard. Whatever we do, we have to make sure it’s safe and it has to look good. That’s the most difficult test right now, because it could be greener.’

Which may require more than three seconds in the paint. Get your whistles out.