About that new field for the NY Giants.....

[nybatt]

Giants WR/KR Domenik Hixon OUT for the 2010 season after blowing out his ACL on the new field turf at Tuesday's first day of mini-camp.

The Giants opened the afternoon practice to fans inside the new PSL stadium... Hixon drop stepped to catch a punt when he buckled his knee, catching a cleat in the new fake field. There was discussion about seams in the field where Giants and JEts logos will be sewn in and removed, but I'm not sure if that was where the injury occurred.

While the Giants team statement (naturally) is that the turf was not the issue, the NY papers have come to a different conclusion; the new turf WAS to blame.

Its very simple: catch your toe in grass you kick up a divot, catch a toe playing on anything else and some ligament (knee, ankle, groin, hip) has to give.

This is a huge loss for the Giants.

[andrewharrington]

New turf needs about a season of play to properly settle and condense before being in optimum condition for play and from an injury standpoint. If I were the Giants/Jets, I would have had a promotional 'stamp down the turf day' and let thousands of fans come straight onto to the field and aid in the process by running jumping, playing catch with practice balls, etc.. People would line up in droves. I've only been on an NFL field once (I wasn't even allowed within the field of play) and I consider myself fortunate. Think of all the people who would consider it a once in a lifetime experience.

[The_Admiral]

I'm thinking of the 300-pound Jets fan who tackles some guy for wearing a Giants hat. Gotta make sure the waiver everyone signs says "no draft jokes."

[WSU151]

It's easy and convenient to blame the turf...but what kind of cleat was Hixon wearing? I've read that a lot of players have a tendency to wear long cleats that aren't optimal for field turf, but they wear them anyway thinking they'll have better footing.

[Gobbi]

New turf needs about a season of play to properly settle and condense before being in optimum condition for play and from an injury standpoint. If I were the Giants/Jets, I would have had a promotional 'stamp down the turf day' and let thousands of fans come straight onto to the field and aid in the process by running jumping, playing catch with practice balls, etc.. People would line up in droves. I've only been on an NFL field once (I wasn't even allowed within the field of play) and I consider myself fortunate. Think of all the people who would consider it a once in a lifetime experience.

Just out of curiosity, what field were you on? Was this part of a tour or something else? I took a tour of Lincoln Financial field and we were only allowed on the concrete area next to the grass. Just being able to do that was amazing so I'd be all for your idea of breaking in the field! (Maybe that's just the Eagles fan in me thinking of stomping on a Giants logo )

[BlueSky]

Sucks about Hixon. It's debatable about what was to blame but you have to suspect the turf given the circumstances. Of course it could've happened at their practice facility and then what's to blame?

In the mid-80's, a friend and I took a day trip to Dallas from New Orleans (I miss my airline travel privileges!). We stopped by Texas Stadium and looked around the Cowboys' shop there. When we came out, down to the right we could see the field so we walked down there. No one was around and the gate was standing open so we walked out into the end zone. Still nobody, so we walked out to the midfield star and looked around. It was awesome.

Just then a security guy came running out and said, "Hey, what are you doing? Are you with the tour?" We kinda panicked and said, "Um, yeah." So he points over to a tunnel and says, "They're over there, and don't get separated again, okay?" So we said, "Yes, sir!" and glommed on to the group for the rest of the tour. Ended up going through the Cowboys' locker room and all. Pretty cool.

My only other time on an NFL field was also in Dallas. I was about 6 so this was around '67 or so. We were visiting my grandmother. We hadn't moved to N.O. yet and she was the only person I knew in an NFL city so the Cowboys of the Meredith era were my team back then. My dad took me to the Cotton Bowl one Saturday morning and we were standing there looking through the gate when a security guard came along. He was a very nice guy. When he found out why we were there, he took us inside and let me stand in the end zone. All those blue and white seats, the end zone markings...let me tell you, for a six-year-old, it was pretty amazing.

[TruColor]

I was a member of the Dallas Cowboys Band for the 1988 season - the last season that the Cowboys had a live band. We were a horns and rhythm section band (miked) that sat in the stands in one end of Texas Stadium. We had a "room" for equipment next to the Cowboys Cheerleaders locker room - we worked with the Cheerleaders directly (even had our own parking area with them) - and it was required to get to our section by walking out of the tunnel, across the field, and up some stairs. That Texas Stadium field was full of mildew...since the circulation of air was so restricted in there, and no a/c, it would rain, and mold, mildew and even mushrooms would grow on that nasty artificial turf. We even took our group picture (for promotions and for the game-day program) on the field while players from both teams were warming up.

And then years ago, a friend and I took the RCA Dome tour (it was still called the Hoosier Dome then)...afterward, we walked over to Market Square Arena, and then came back to the Indy Convention Center. The Convention Center and the Dome were connected, and we walked right through an airlock onto the field. We had the entire stadium to ourselves...we ran all over that field like little kids. It was pretty neat.

[BBTV]

New turf needs about a season of play to properly settle and condense before being in optimum condition for play and from an injury standpoint. If I were the Giants/Jets, I would have had a promotional 'stamp down the turf day' and let thousands of fans come straight onto to the field and aid in the process by running jumping, playing catch with practice balls, etc.. People would line up in droves. I've only been on an NFL field once (I wasn't even allowed within the field of play) and I consider myself fortunate. Think of all the people who would consider it a once in a lifetime experience.

Just out of curiosity, what field were you on? Was this part of a tour or something else? I took a tour of Lincoln Financial field and we were only allowed on the concrete area next to the grass. Just being able to do that was amazing so I'd be all for your idea of breaking in the field! (Maybe that's just the Eagles fan in me thinking of stomping on a Giants logo )

The first few years of the Linc, they were pricks about letting even employees near the field. I remember being on field level for a training class and being warned not to even reach over and touch the grass with your hand, because they claimed that there's all these fancy chemicals on it and touching it with your hand would disrupt whatever said chemicals are supposed to be doing (at least that's what I remember... it's been a long time.) Still, people all reached over and touched it while nobody was looking. Suprisingly, the grass survived.

I've since been on the field numerous times, usually when they used to have the EYP carnival. The carnival was also the best way for fans to get on the field, as there were several games or events that happened there.

FWIW, I was on the field Tuesday night, and can tell you that it looks like TRASH right now - probably because they hosted Monster Jam, and had tons of dirt over top of plywood that they put down over the grass. Not smart. It seriously looks like half of the grass is dead or dying.

Re: blaming this injury on Field Turf - last year during the Eagles training camp practice that they hold at the Linc (Eagles "Flight Night"), MLB Stewart Bradley tore his ACL and was lost for the season, right at mid field of a grass field. So without more facts, it's pretty dumb to blame this on Field Turf, as fluke injuries happen everywhere on any surface.

[hormone]

The school I teach at has a similar turf. It's about 5 years old now and where the lines and numbers are, they are starting to create divits where kids and players trip. I can see this still hasn't been perfected yet. Where I went to college (YSU), I was there for the regular turf and the field turf. The regular turf was like concrete and as it was worn, metal mesh was showing. When they got the new field turf, if there was a dew on the grass or it was wet, it was like ice skating...especially over the painted logo and lines. I think the whole purpose is to not replace grass/sod all the time and to not have to maintain it as much (especially in the north west). I don't see how it's a better option yet.

[Gothamite]

Re: blaming this injury on Field Turf - last year during the Eagles training camp practice that they hold at the Linc (Eagles "Flight Night"), MLB Stewart Bradley tore his ACL and was lost for the season, right at mid field of a grass field. So without more facts, it's pretty dumb to blame this on Field Turf, as fluke injuries happen everywhere on any surface.

Of course injuries can and do happen on any kind of turf. That doesn't necessarily mean that FieldTurf doesn't cause or exacerbate those injuries any more than the presence of genuine no-fault auto accidents doesn't let drunk drivers off the hook for the ones they cause.

ACL injuries happen 88 percent more often in games played on FieldTurf than in games played on grass. Correlation does not imply causation, but that's still a shocking statistic and ought give us pause. I in charge of an NFL team I wouldn't put it in my stadium until more tests had been done to establish or deny a causal link.

[oldschoolvikings]

A friend of mine is a photographer for a news service and covers all the local Detroit events. He's gotten me in to Ford Field a few times as his "assistant" to see the Lions play the Vikings. I couldn't believe it the first time he brought it up... I was sure that they were gonna say no way... here I am just some shlub carrying some of his equipment, and I watched three entire games standing five feet away from the team bench! They fed us lunch in the press area, it was crazy. Then, the last time I went with him, somebody finally noticed that I wasn't really assisting anything, and made me leave the field. I couldn't argue... I can't believe I got away with it as long as I did.

And, yeah, field turf feels weird. Somehow spongey-dangerous... hard to explain.

[ksupilot]

New turf needs about a season of play to properly settle and condense before being in optimum condition for play and from an injury standpoint. If I were the Giants/Jets, I would have had a promotional 'stamp down the turf day' and let thousands of fans come straight onto to the field and aid in the process by running jumping, playing catch with practice balls, etc.. People would line up in droves. I've only been on an NFL field once (I wasn't even allowed within the field of play) and I consider myself fortunate. Think of all the people who would consider it a once in a lifetime experience.

They could also just hold a few marching band competitions...after 8 or 9 hours of 200+ member bands on the field, it should be pretty stamped down. I was fortunate enough to march on the field at Giants Stadium twice with my high school's band.

I agree on the field turf feeling weird...when you step onto it, it isn't what you were expecting.

[slapshot]

I've been on a number of turf fields. Depending on the brand used, they all feel different. I've also been on the field at Gillette Stadium. This was the year after permanently installing the turf. Between football and soccer, the field had pretty much settled by the time I got on it in early November. Aside from it being somewhat slick at times, it didn't seem to give anyone any problems.

As far as I understand, players can wear long-grass cleats on the turf, since the blades and cushioning simulates grass much better than the carpeted fields of the past.