my lawn is showing lots of dollar spot this year for the first time in 17 years. my question however is about something else. I opened up some areas where the grass is still green, but when i did down about three to four inches the grass was brown and moist and looked terrible. I'm very concerned that something else is wrong with the lawn.

Given our weather pattern this summer in Illinois and into Indiana, lawn disease has had a good year. I suspect the damage you see is environmental. High rates of nitrogen fertilizer promote lawn disease, providing new young tender leaf blades to infect. As fall approaches, the hot humid weather will go away and so will the summer disease cycle. Repair involves raking away the browned grass, topdressing to re establish the grade, over seeding with high quality hybrid disease resistant grass seed. If you wish to prevent this next summer, preventative treatments should start 2-3 weeks before you notice the damage this year.