You guys are all right, I dont care what DU says about you!
I was told by a friend tonight, the sight of the birds feeding off the area confirms it is a bug site for sure, the sod coming up with the grass indicates the roots are dead, the brown patch itself goes with that
so it all leads to bugs eating my grass
and the suggestion was to treat the ENTIRE LAWN, not just the spot, so, tomorrow it is off to Home Depot for the lawn treatment