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Field turf fever?


Chazberg

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While watching highlights of the weekend's games (BTW damn good to have football back, I don't care if it's preseason I'll take it any day over baseball) I noticed that a few more teams have gone to field turf. The Falcons did, leaving I believe only the Saints, Vikings and Bills as the last remaining astro turf teams. But curiosuly, it looks like some grass teams have gone to the flubber as well, like the Ravens and Bengals. I'm not sure on this, but it really looked like it from the highlights, the Ravens logo looked too clear to be grass. I don't know why teams who have a natural grass field would do this; I mean I know the field turf is an upgrade from astro turf, but isn't grass still way better? Oh, and Michigan did it too!
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I don't know why teams who have a natural grass field would do this; I mean I know the field turf is an upgrade from astro turf, but isn't grass still way better? Oh, and Michigan did it too!

natural grass is safer because the field has more give which means less stress on a players body and less injuries. i think the texans have the coolest grass.

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I don't know why teams who have a natural grass field would do this; I mean I know the field turf is an upgrade from astro turf, but isn't grass still way better? Oh, and Michigan did it too!

natural grass is safer because the field has more give which means less stress on a players body and less injuries. i think the texans have the coolest grass.

I think another part of it is that turf holds players feet more than natural grass. (We're talking minute fractions here but it means that when a player goes to move or jump or whatever, he is more liable to twist or extend a knee/hip/ankle whatever!!)

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The highlights...er...low lights of the Bengals game I saw looked like it was real grass in Cincy.

Now if they can just get a real team! :laugh:

The thing about rubber is that it sticks to your feet, but at least you have a bit of cushioning, something that AstroTurf does not have. So what you will end up having is the rate of injuries on this kind of surface will be in between the rates of real grass and AstroTurf.

The big question will be the quality of the surface in the winter.

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Add the University of Missouri to the list of Field Turf converts.  For the life of me I just can't understand why a school that has one of the top agricultural programs in the nation can't maintain a patch of grass that gets used six days a year.
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Did Mizzou have turf before?

We had OmniTurf from 1985-1995.  It was disgraceful.  It wasn't installed properly the first year and sand kept coming up on to the surface, getting in players' eyes and causing some nasty abrasions (I mean a turf burn is bad enough, but then get sand ground in there as well?).  They finally went back to grass in 96 and it was great for a few years but then it seemed like around 99 or 2000 they couldn't keep the field together much beyond the first half.  Gigantic clods would come up, especially between the 30's.  It was a mess and like I said before, really embarassing considering the size and reputation of the ag school at Mizzou.

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What about Michigan State? I heard that they have some sort of grass laboratory/program and that they helped Hoston in choosing their grass in Reliant Stadium. ???

Michigan State has one of the top turfgrass programs in the nation.  Their big test was summer/fall, replacing the astroturf at Spartan Stadium with grass.  The field was the best part of MSU football last year.

I don't know about their involvement in Houston, though.

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I don't know why teams who have a natural grass field would do this; I mean I know the field turf is an upgrade from astro turf, but isn't grass still way better?

The difficulty in maintaining grass fields during the heat of summer and the high cost of tending the fields to pro standards is one of the reasons why teams are switching to field turf.

Another reason to switch to field turf is that it has even more give than grass does.  It reduces injury by lessening impacts.

A third reason that I can think for switching to field turf is its excellent drainage capacity.  It channels water faster and more efficiently than grass does.  This reduces injury if the game is played as it is not as slippery as real grass and there are not pools of free standing water.

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natural grass is safer because the field has more give which means less stress on a players body and less injuries.

Actually, testing has shown that field turf has MORE give and impact absorbtion than a typical natural field.

Over time, the soil underneath natural turf is compressed and hardens to densities approximately double what they are six months after installation.

The rubber "dust" in field turf compresses and then rebounds to provide better impact absorbtion.

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Michigan State has one of the top turfgrass programs in the nation. Their big test was summer/fall, replacing the astroturf at Spartan Stadium with grass. The field was the best part of MSU football last year.

I don't know about their involvement in Houston, though.

I really don't know either. I watched a program on TLC that dealt with the science behind stadium designs like the movement of the retractable roof. I don't remember the program, but when they talked about Houston, they discussed the translucent retractable roof, how they move the grass out and which grass to use etc.  ???

I saw, I came, I left.

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The highlights...er...low lights of the Bengals game I saw looked like it was real grass in Cincy.

The game was played at Giants Stadium, which has Fieldturf.

The Bills have some new :censored: called SportTrack or Sport Field. i dunno.. it's a Fieldturf knockoff. Same with Baltimore. Atlanta has Fieldturf, and... i think St. Louis is getting it next year.

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